Inspector Andrew Cadaver
by DaleSpada
Summary: An original story following the life of Inspector Andrew Cadaver and his partners. In progress.


After working late the night before, I had been looking forward to finally getting a chance to sleep in on my 54th birthday. So I was understandably annoyed to find myself awoken by a small noise mere moments after I had gotten into bed, or so it felt. I was even more annoyed, and a little frightened when I opened my eyes to find myself staring down the barrel of a gun. After a moment's panic, my gaze moved past the gun to take in the rest of my would-be murderer. She was a young woman, tall and athletic, with long blonde hair. The gun stayed perfectly steady as she stared at me with her light blue eyes. I stared blankly at her police uniform for a moment, then recognition dawned. As I opened my mouth to speak, she holstered her weapon and grinned. "Morning, Dad!"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Sophia, what the heck are you doing here?" I asked.

She pouted. "I came early here to wish you a happy birthday before I went to work, you ungrateful old coot! And what do I find? You're lying in here snoring your head off, on today of all days! I figured you deserved a scare when you woke up. If you ever woke up, that is." She grinned again and began to walk away. "Now get up and get dressed, Dad, because I'm treating you to breakfast!"

I sighed and headed to the bathroom. Sophia Cadaver could be quite the handful. Equal parts beautiful, brilliant and confidant, she graduated at the top of her class at police academy last year, and was immediately offered senior positions at police forces around the country. She's been rising through the ranks so fast she'll be able to take over my job in a few years. I shook my head. So like her mother. Also so like her father, in truth. She's always done her best to follow in my footsteps. And when merely following wasn't enough for her, she had little trouble eclipsing my greatest achievements. "Quite the girl," I thought, as I entered the bathroom.

I walked over to the mirror to assess my newest facial damages, and groaned. The results, as always, were not promising. My dark brown hair, once thick, has been noticeably thinning for months now. At this point, the bags under my eyes could be better likened to tree rings. "Another day, another wrinkle," as my wife always says. Or rather, as she always used to say. My wife, Natasha, died over three years ago. Lung cancer took her, a mere six months after the initial diagnosis. Her death is a loss I feel as keenly now as I did when she passed away. I shook myself out of my melancholy, then began my morning ritual.

After washing, dressing, and shaving myself, I followed the smell of frying bacon to the kitchen. Sophia was bent over the oven, but she turned when I came in. She looked me over and nodded, "You're looking much more presentable now! Breakfast is almost done. In the meantime, why don't you open your present?" With a nod of her head, she directed my gaze to a large box covered in garish green and red wrapping paper, complete with a big red bow. Grimacing, I stepped forward and gingerly eased the lid off the box. Peering in, I was greeted by glowing green eyes and an explosion of black fur that had me staggering backwards. After another moment of blind panic, I located my assailant just as he fled around a corner: a small black cat. I also noticed Sophia practically doubled over with laughter. While I could sympathize with her amusement, the day's surprises had left me in no mood for laughter. "A cat?!" I exclaimed. "You got me a cat? You know I hate the bloody things!" Her laugher tapered off as she replied, "Lighten up, Dad! I know you think that you hate animals, but once you get to know them you'll find that they can actually be quite lovely." Her smile shrank and vanished as she went on. "And I thought, with Mom gone, and you living in this house all by yourself… well, I thought you'd like some company, for a change."

All anger drained from me at the mention of my wife, and I sighed. She had beaten me, as she always did. "Alright, I suppose I can keep the little pest for a while… for your sake, if not mine. Does he have a name?" Sophia perked up immediately once I agreed to keep the cat, so it was with a grin that she replied, "Of course he does! His name is Helios." I rolled my eyes. A black cat named for a sun god. Of course, it made perfect sense.

We were interrupted by a call of "Hey, little guy!" from the hallway, and moments later a tall figure ducked under the doorframe and strode into the kitchen. "Happy birthday Andrew! I didn't expect to find you up so early!" I smiled at him. "My daughter literally woke me up at gunpoint. How've you been, Travis?" "Never been better!" Travis replied. Standing over six and a half feet tall and massively athletic, you could be excused for thinking that Travis Wilhelm was a professional basketball player. As a matter of fact, he did play NCAA basketball back in his college days, before succumbing to his true love, technology. He owns and operates Protekta Security, a private security firm that does freelance work for the police. Travis is quite the prolific inventor, and more than a few of the gadgets that I use daily were made by him.

"Oh yeah," Travis said, frowning. He pulled something from his pocket and tossed it too me. "Been real busy getting this ready for your big day," he said. "Hope you like it!" I turned the device over. It looked like an elongated smartphone, with a few buttons at the bottom and the words SCAN NOW TO ACTIVATE flashing dimly on the screen. A small oval with a stylized fingerprint indicated where I should place my finger. I did so, and after a few seconds the device chimed softly "Welcome, Inspector Cadaver." I looked at Travis as he settled down at the table, where Sophia had begun to serve three plates of breakfast, and asked him, "Thanks for this, but don't I already have a phone?" Travis shook his head. "That old Nokia? Not anymore you don't, although it took me a few hours to make sure." I gave him a pained look. "Travis, Natasha gave me that. You knew I loved that phone." Looking chastened, Travis looked away. "I'm sorry man but… It was time for it to go. I couldn't keep upgrading that old thing anymore. The new one will be much better… and almost as indestructible."

Finishing my breakfast, I stood up. "Sweetie, thanks for breakfast. I don't suppose I get to rest a bit now…?" Sophia shook her head. "Sorry, Dad. Lucius wants you in his office first thing. He knows you've had a long, well, year, but he said he's got a gift for you. Best head over now." I looked at Travis, who waved at me with a waffle, his mouth full. I grabbed my trench coat and headed to the door. A cat I didn't want and a phone I didn't need. I can't wait to see what Lucius has in store for me.


End file.
